| 00YydS 0] oeg ®" 150d Sejleq ayy » > 966} ‘LC sro y CN] Vol. "107 No. 36 Dallas, Pennsylvania WALKING THE HIGH STEEL An ironworker helped maneuver a steel beam into place at the “new Pendragon Plaza in Trucksville. Construction is progressing on the first building in the complex. The retail/commercial development is scheduled to open next spring. | POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Local volunteers work to combat illiteracy ‘ 0 : hb By JACK HILSHER Post Correspondent BACK MOUNTAIN - Imagine, if ‘you-can, what life would be like if you were unable to read these words. Or a newspaper, or a bus schedule. Pretty bleak, wouldn't you say? Yet a recent nationwide survey shows that 90 million of America’s nearly 200 million adults have trouble with both reading and writing. (An estimated 4 million of Pennsylvania's 9.6 million adults may not even be able to use the phone book!) Sobering? Staggering? Yes, but while it may be an uphill struggle to change these numbers, an or- ganization is doing its utmost to do just that. It is called the Wyo- ming Valley Literacy Volunteers. Here in Luzerne County at least 8 percent of adults are function- ally illiterate. They cannot read a want ad or write a check. They cannot read a menu or a recipe. Books? Forget it. Over 50,000 like these unfortunates are currently enrolled in adult literacy programs in this state, and these are only a fraction of the number needing help. Fifth-grade class tests § [} ? ) i : “By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff ] i LEHMAN - Mrs. Carol ‘Williams's fifth-graders will make tit rain in their classroom and blow jup their teacher in science class. . Using materials they are famil- iar with, her students will learn science through a new “hands- jon"~approach. During the first ‘week of school they made and set up wind flags, a rain gauge and ‘thermometers, and devised ex- ‘periments to study temperature differences and humidity to begin ‘a unit on the weather. © Rose Knouse, Liz Martin, Sa- ‘rah:Heller, Robyn Maslowski and ‘Kara-Makarewicz formed a group ‘andimmediately got to work mak- ling their wind flag — which they ‘waved around and blew on to test \— from a dowel rod and a decora- } “By GRACE R. DOVE S Post Staff LEHMAN - Elementary school ‘students will find they can liter- ‘ally’get their hands on their sci- : ence lessons this year. According to superintendent Dr.-William Price, science classes ‘in grades K through six will focus on the practical applications of basic scientific principles using “items the kids are familiar with." “For example, they might work 'hands-on' curriculum tive pennant. Joe Redmond stretched up high to attach his group's wind flag to one of three bird feeders outside the class- room window. As Mrs. Williams peppered the class with questions about weather, hands popped into the air and students said, “I know! I know!” You know it's going torain when you can smell it or when your uncle's old injury aches, one said. Another said puffy, fluffy white clouds mean good weather and sometimes you can see pictures or people's faces in them. After reading several weather proverbs, they understood that birds often head for their nests before it rains and why “sailors See HANDS-ON, pg. 8 tudents return to new with thermometers while explor- ing freezing, thawing and boiling, or tuning forks, two tin cans and a string to learn about sound fre- quencies and vibrations,” he said. “We want to make science inter- esting and challenging for both students and teachers. It's aback- yard approach which emphasizes creativity, imagination and teacher initiative.” Because elementary classes statewide spend an average of only about 20 minutes per week in For over a dozen years, the Wyoming Valley program has headquartered in Kingston's Hoyt Library under the direction of Mary Callahan. She says, “Our group is training men and women volun- teers how to tutor adults on a one- to-one basis. Anyone who can read and write and who is willing to tutoron aregular basis, only about two hours per week, can be a tutor after completing our train- ing course.” Callahan adds, “There is no charge, only a modest registra- tion fee, everything is on a volun- teer basis. However the rewards one receives for helping others in this way to become more self reli- ant far exceed any monetary value. No special teaching skills are needed, just dedication and per- severance. This program is just different enough from ‘Meals On Wheels’ or ‘Dial-A-Driver’ that we think we can attract the addi- tional volunteers we need.” Machell Avenue’s Carol King handles WVLV publicity and says, “We have over 50 volunteers from the Back Mountain, both active and inactive. But there is room for See ILLITERACY, pg 10 POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE Karen Milunic, Colleen Mininger, Scott Lozo, Matt Mahoney and Cody Lamoreaux made wind flags as part of an introduction to weather in their fitht-grade science class at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School last week. math, science classes science class, Price said he wants the Lake-Lehman students to spend more time learning its ba- sic principles. Dr. Walter Placek of Wilkes University developed the study guides with the teachers and will visit classes to monitor both teach- ers’ and students’ progress this year. Teaching supplies were pur- chased through a $4,000 federal grant, Price said. High school science students will continue to visit their young friends at the elementary schools and show them different science experiments in a very successful program begun last year. The district is also revamping its math curriculum. While alge- bra is now introduced to eighth and ninth-graders, it will soon be moved down into the fifth grade, where students will begin learn- ing its basics in a pre-algebra course, Price said. See MATH, SCIENCE., pg 8 2 Newspaper Since 1889 The Dallas Post SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS September 4 thru September 10, 1996 Harveys Lake 18654 may move across bridge Tiny post office's customers raise | petition drive to have it stay put By JENNIFER JUDGE Post Correspondent HARVEYS LAKE - The Shawanese Post Office may soon have a new home. The post office, which currently sits at the bottom of Old Lake Road, will be making its second move in its 102-year history. Dale Ferguson, manager of administrative services for this region's post offices, stated, “It’s no secret we're looking for some- Local schools see little | change in enrollments By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff BACK MOUNTAIN - With the first week of school under their belts, attendance officers have started crunching numbers for another year. Initial head counts show en- rollments at both Dallas and Lake- Lehman have remained fairly con- stant for at least the past four years. Bob Rogers, Lake-Lehman'’s chairman of pupil personnel ser- vices, said the 2,242 total enroll- ment has decreased by about 16 students over last year. “We're relatively steady,” he said. “Ninth grade is always a big class because we get transfers from the private and parochial schools, but we haven't had any sudden large increases in enroll- ments since I started doing the attendance records four years ago.” The district doesn’t have any new large housing developments, which could cause enrollments to rise drastically, he added. Of Lake-Lehman'’s 2,242 stu- dents, 680 attend the high school and 354 are in the middle school, Rogers said. Lehman-Jackson Elementary has 673 students, while Lake-Noxen has 413 and Ross Township 122. All sixth- graders attend either Lake-Noxen or Lehman-Jackson. thing new.” Ferguson says the decision is based on a space deficiency. The | Shawanese Post Office has “less than half the space required of an office that size,” he said Tuesday. Originally, a space across from Commonwealth Telephone on the | corner of Sunset Terrace and Route 415 was the proposed site for the new building. The property - was later proven to be too small. | See 18654, pg 8 Registrar Susan Farr at Dallas said the district planned to take an official count Sept. 3. “The first week it's only a head count be- cause some students are either sick or still on summer vacation,” she said. The Westmoreland Elementary School, which added a new fourth grade teacher this year, has ap- proximately 477 students, while the larger Dallas Elementary building has about 674, she said. “We don’t go up or down too much from year to year,” Farr added. The middle school has 613 stu- dents, while the high school has 750, according to the respective school secretaries. Keeping an accurate count is only part of the job, Rogers and Farr said. “My main problem the first week is tracking down the absentees and students who withdrew or See ENROLLMENTS, pg 9 HW Sports Preview Special 12-page section previews fall high school sports. Inside the B section. HW 'Fair’ weather Luzerne County Fair opens a five-day run today. Pg 7. 26 Pages 3 Sections Calendar..................... 14 Classified............... 12-13 Crossword.................. 14 Edilonials................... .4 Obituaries........cccoeuv.e. 12 School... ci. 10-11 SPOS. J... 5s vines Sues 9 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366
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